What must DSS do to redeem its image?

They need to stick to their core mandate of intelligence gathering and dissemination for decision making in the country. Most of the problems manifesting today in the country are a result of failure of intelligence – herdsmen killings, Boko Haram, armed robbery, arms trafficking and proliferations, human trafficking.

The problem is that the Department of State Services has tended to put itself out more as a police agency, instead of a pure intelligence agency. Many intelligence officers want to capitalise on their intelligence and make arrests by themselves. In a place like Nigeria, intelligence officers try to make themselves known, such that they will be seen and feared, whereas that is not the issue. The value of intelligence is what it prevents.

Also, the agency needs to go back to see what its establishing statute says, because it is a creation of the law and not the law itself. The agency must respect human rights and the laws of the land. Even if you don’t like the pronouncement by judicial officers, that is your problem. That is why the law is there and the court is there for everyone. If you don’t like any court pronouncement, then appeal it.

Lack of analytic culture is a big problem to the DSS. I have met top people there and thrown a lot of structured analytic tools at them and they don’t know what I was talking about. They are still using intuitive thinking. It is counter-intuitive to be doing intuitive-thinking in this age of structured analytic thinking. Intelligence analysis is cerebral work; it takes powerful thinking. It is not for all comers and that is what we expect to see in that agency. •Dr Ona Ekhomu (President, Association of Industrial Security and Safety Operators of Nigeria)

The new helmsman should not do some of the things his predecessor did. He should work according to the dictates of the service and in compliance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He must take orders from the President and seek clarifications whenever in doubt. Even when he gets directives from the President, he is also in a position to analyse the import of such directives to the President. He must also be conscious that the world has become a global village and that our activities as a nation are being watched internationally.

The operatives that went to the National Assembly said they were acting based on orders from above. Who is above? The new DG must ensure that such an incident does not happen again because no doubt, it dented the image of the service. The officers should know their specific roles and required professional conducts and competencies.

The new DSS boss has people who work with him; some of them are lawyers who can advise him properly. He should take sound legal advice that will guide him to act within the confines of the constitution. He should also avoid violating human rights and he should guide operatives to be professional in their conduct at all times. National interest should always be at the heart of the service.

Vice-Admiral Samuel Afolayan (retd.) (A former Chief of Naval Staff)

The Department of State Services should go back to its statutory responsibility of gathering intelligence. When this organisation was set up, it was called SSS – Secret Security Service. We did not use to see them; they were supposed to be operating in secret, gathering intelligence for government and other security agencies. It was only the police that we used to see. So, the DSS should go back to its focus; its original mandate of secret intelligence gathering.

Secondly, the DSS, to redeem its image, must empty its cells of all persons who are being detained unconstitutionally and illegally. It should open its cells for visitations by human rights organisations the Nigerian Bar Association, and judges, to be able to know who are being detained and for what purpose.

Also, the DSS should not get involved in prosecution. An intelligence gathering agency cannot turn itself into a prosecutor suddenly. When you see people being charged to court and being prosecuted by the DSS, it is an anathema. That is not the responsibility of that agency. If the DSS has gathered any intelligence, it should submit it to the ICPC, EFCC, the regular police or the attorney general. We cannot get to a situation where the DSS has hijacked the responsibility of the attorney general as specified in Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution. The DSS should veer off prosecution of cases.

Besides, the DSS should not get involved in politics. It is not a political organisation; it is not a wing of the executive that is meant to perpetuate people in office. It is an agency responsible to the people of Nigeria and it should face its responsibility according to law. •Ebun Adegboruwa (Lagos-based lawyer)

When the announcement went out that Lawal Daura had been fired, even staff of the DSS across the board were celebrating. So, it tells you that the problem, as even the staff saw it, was not a problem of the DSS against the rest of the world. They understood that there was a challenge, but that challenge was not just internal to them because it was caused by their political leadership. It was not a problem of training, but political headship. So, something good has already happened which is that the DSS leadership has been changed. That is already recognition that there was a problem.

The second thing that was wrong was that the DSS did not have any outlet to the world. So, it is also a good thing that the DSS has now appointed a spokesperson.

The third thing for me has to do with training and the way the doctrine and the professionalism of the entity and its personnel and agents are policed. There is an Institute of Security Studies and Mr Matthew Seiyefa, who is the acting Director-General of the DSS, was the head of this institute and it seems to me that the institute needs to be strengthened. The institute needs to play a more influential role in ensuring that it responsibly oversees and affects the way the DSS does it work. It is very important.

The fourth thing is the interface among training, doctoring and intelligence on the one hand, and operations on the other hand.

The fifth in my view is accountability. You cannot have a situation in which an entity with the kind of roles and powers of the DSS to commit abuses is not subject to oversight. •Prof. Chidi Odinkalu (A former Chairman, National Human Rights Commission)

The main issue is that the government must help in improving the image of the DSS because the way the government is going about the ongoing investigation is wrong. Apart from the fact that the agency has been given a bad image because of the poor leadership of the past administration, the matter should not be mishandled by the government. The matter must be handled with absolute tact otherwise, we would be cutting our nose to spite our face.

No matter what he may have done, telling a former DSS DG to surrender himself to the police will definitely strain the relationship between the DSS and the police and this rivalry will deepen. I am not saying that the government does not have the power to do what it has done, but what I expected the government to have done is to set up a high-level judicial or administrative panel of inquiry because this is the secret police and a lot of information would be compromised in the course of police investigation.

The DSS suffered this same fate in 1985 when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida overthrew the government and he said he was overhauling the security framework of the secret police. So, I think apart from the DSS setting up a machinery to improve its image, the government should not also destroy the agency’s intelligence gathering capability.

The new DG, while addressing the press, said he would look into the issue of illegal and unlawful detention. So, he is expected to carry out reforms to improve the image of the service. •Mike Ejiofor (Ex-Director, Department of State Services)

How do we carry a woman with a broken waist? This administration has abused all due process; the DSS has gone outside its mandate and is now interfering in things that are none of its business. If we want to talk about redeeming DSS image, it should be holistic. If you want to talk about change, it has to start from within. They really have to be sure that they want to have a holistic change and eradicate anything that is contrary to laid down rules and regulations. If we are talking about redeeming DSS image, would that stop operatives from doing what they used to do or from dancing to the tune of the Presidency? Would they not go outside of their mandate to please the people who appointed them into office?

The DSS is under the Presidency and the Presidency has not repented. The people who are carrying out various illegal acts are still in the government wielding their power. So, how sure are you that the DSS would still not dance to their tune? If they are serious about redeeming their image, they should first apologise for assaulting our sensibilities. After the apology, they would then tell us the framework they have drawn up on how to repair their image and also pledge that they would not derail from their mandate. •Ifeoma Iheanacho (Legal practitioner/Executive Director, Advocate of Independent Democratic Forum)

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